Misjudgement

Conservative leader David Cameron said ministers should have said it was a matter for the Scottish government and kept to
the “clear view” there was “simply not room for movement” on Megrahi’s release.
He told the BBC it had been a “misjudgement” to “treat in any way with the Libyans about the future of Mr Megrahi
“This man was convicted of the largest mass murder in British history and if the conviction is in some way unsafe that
should be appealed and reviewed but he was convicted of that and they shouldn’t have been treating with the Libyans on that
basis.”
He said the government appeared to have shown the Libyans a “bit of light” and given them the impression the release of
Megrahi was something there “could be movement on”.
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said Mr Brown could remain silent for “not a minute longer”.
He said: “He really needs, for his own good, to come clean about what he knew and didn’t know.”
Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill allowed Megrahi to be freed from Greenock Prison on 20 August on compassionate
grounds after rejecting his return to Libya under a prisoner transfer agreement.
Mr Brown and other UK ministers have declined to say whether they supported freeing Megrahi, stressing it was a decision for
the Scottish government.
Mr MacAskill is defending his decision again in a Scottish parliamentary debate.
Opposition parties are expected to unite to defeat the minority Scottish National Party government on the issue.
Other letters made public by the UK and Scottish governments on Tuesday reveal UK Justice Secretary Jack Straw changed his
mind about excluding the Lockerbie bomber from a proposed prisoner transfer agreement with Libya.
In a letter to Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, on 11 February 2008, Mr Straw said Libya had become an “important
partner in the fight against terrorism” and was helping to counter illegal immigration.